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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Wednesday

Find out what's going on in Denmark today with The Local's short roundup of the news in less than five minutes.

A rainbow photographed near the village of Hvam in Jutland on Tuesday November 23rd.
A rainbow photographed near the village of Hvam in Jutland on Tuesday November 23rd.Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

‘Danish values’ questions now included on citizenship test 

If you are taking the Danish citizenship test, you will from now on have to answer five additional questions, with the test now consisting of 40 rather than 45 multiple choices.

The new questions are designed to test whether the potential citizenship applicant understands “Danish values” and was introduced after a majority in parliament backed the idea earlier this year.

Citizenship tests take place across Denmark at 1pm today.

READ ALSO:

Last election placards to be removed

Any remaining election placards still hanging around on lampposts or fences must be taken down by today according to the law, which states they must come down eight days after the elections.

Having been up since October 23rd, the placards can look a bit of a sorry site once the elections are done and dusted. Some candidates in this year’s local elections decided against using them for their campaigns, citing environmental considerations.

Over half of municipalities asked to introduce Covid-19 measures

54 of Denmark’s 98 municipalities have been encouraged by health authorities to introduce measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 due to high local incidences, news wire Ritzau reports.

A law which earlier initiated automatic lockdowns in divisions of municipalities known as sogne (parishes) when infections reached a certain level was revoked in September when national restrictions ended.

Instead, municipalities are now asked to take steps to reduce infection rates once they reach 20 infections in the last week, and when the rate of infection is equivalent to 400 per 100,000 residents.

The recommended measures apply primarily to municipal facilities. For example, kindergartens are asked to keep children in different age groups apart.

READ ALSO: Denmark again breaks 2021 record with ‘concerning’ number of new Covid-19 cases

Government suggests renting prison cells abroad

The government wants to rent prison cells in foreign countries to reduce the strain on the Danish prison system, Politiken reports based on a classified note seen by the newspaper.

The proposal is in response to an increasing number of prisoners in Denmark’s prisons coupled with a staffing drain caused by prison officers leaving the profession.

No specific country has been named as a potential partner in the plan, Politiken writes.

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TODAY IN DENMARK

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Right wing party defends use of Mette Frederiksen deepfake, parties want mink breeder compensation cut, Billie Eilish announces Royal Arena concerts and more news from Denmark on Tuesday.

Today in Denmark: A roundup of the news on Tuesday

Party criticised over deepfake satire video of prime minister 

The far-right Danish People’s Party (DF) has been criticised for sharing a video that uses ‘deepfake’ techniques to misrepresent Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

In the video, Frederiksen is made to appear as if she is saying the government plans to cancel Christmas, Easter and Pentecost holidays after already scrapping Great Prayer Day.

A small stamp is visible in the corner of the video signalling that it is not real footage of Frederiksen.

The centre-left Socialist People’s Party (SF) and the Liberal (Venstre) party, a partner in the coalition government, have both criticised the video.

“DF’s AI video of the prime minister is very funny in terms of content, but a political party using deepfakes is extremely concerning and I don’t think DF actually understands the potential for (ab)use of deepfakes,” SF’s digital spokesperson Lisbeth Bech-Nielsen tweeted.

DF leader Morten Messerschmidt has rejected the criticism, saying the video was clearly meant as satire.

Vocabulary: satirisk – satirical

Politicians call for lower compensation price for mink skins

SF and the Social Liberal (Radikale Venstre) want the state compensation mink fur farmers to be renegotiated. Both parties voted for the compensation plan in 2021.

The parties new positions come after a commission concluded that the most realistic unit price of a mink fur is lower than the price used to set compensation, media Zetland writes based on a leaked document.

The Social Liberal food spokesperson Christian Friis Bach called the issue a “scandal” in comments to Zetland.

Mink breeders receive compensation based on a price of 333 kroner per skin, while the commission has ruled that the most likely price is 247 kroner.

READ ALSO: Danish mink fur breeders received ‘too much compensation’

Vocabulary: afgørelse – ruling

Billie Eilish to play two concerts in Copenhagen in 2025

One of the world’s biggest names in pop music will play to fans in Copenhagen next year after Billie Eilish announced two dates at the capital’s Royal Arena almost a year to the day, on April 28th and 29th 2025.

The concerts, confirmed by Live Nation Denmark in a press release, are part of Eilish’s upcoming world tour “Hit Me Hard and Soft”, in which she will play across Europe as well as in Australia and the United States.

Ticket sales for the two concerts will begin on Friday, according to the press release, with prices starting at 440 kroner.

Vocabulary: verdensstjerne – international star/celebrity

Foreign workers in Denmark ‘create 300 billion kroner of value’

Almost one in eight people in paid employment in Denmark is a foreign national, meaning workers from abroad create a huge amount of value for the country, the Confederation of Danish Industry said in a new analysis.

Based on Statistics Denmark data DI found that, between 2013 and 2023, the number of foreign nationals working full-time in paid employment in Denmark increased from 147,000 to 309,000.

The 2023 level is equivalent to 13 percent of overall employment in Denmark being attributable to foreign labour, DI said.

“You cannot overestimate the importance of international labour in Denmark,” DI’s deputy director Steen Nielsen said in a statement.

“If they had not been here and made the contribution they do, we’d not have been able to produce goods, treat the sick or build the amount of houses we need,” he said.

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